Mid to late summer months are a perfect for sowing seeds
of short season varieties which tolerate cooler nights and shorter days and
provide tasty fall harvests. We call this "Second Season Gardening".
Read this month's feature article Gardening for a Second Season for planting information
to extend your garden's
production this year. For fall planting suggestions, also refer to our Kitchen
Garden Plans for both short
and long season areas.

Basil Extravaganza
The scent of sweet basil in the garden is something we look forward to every
summer. This season, we are trialing our own ‘Profumo di Genova’ basil alongside
two similar varieties from Dutch and Italian seed vendors. Once again, we are
always searching for the best varieties to offer in the Renee’s Garden line. All
three of these Genovese type basils germinated and grew well from seed. Now that
the plants are maturing, it's clear that compared to the other two, our own
Basil ‘Profumo di Genova’ has the best color with lovely deep green, large
leaves and the most uniform and attractive plant habit. And most important, the
flavor is outstanding; very clean tasting with a warm, well-balanced deliciously
spicy-sweet fragrance. Renee confirmed this conclusion last weekend, with a big
pesto making session using all three varieties followed by a tasting dinner.
Comparing it to the other two varieties, we are glad to see that we are still
offering the most handsome, productive and best tasting basil we can find, so we
will stick with what we’ve got!

Bonsai Tomatoes and Golden Spaghetti Squash
We are also trialing some really interesting new container vegetables. One
variety we are excited about like a “Bonsai” tomato, bred in England from
Eastern European stock. These amazingly small and compact plants are loaded with
fruit and produce very early. They perform nicely in a hanging basket or small
containers and would enable any patio or apartment balcony gardener to have
productive plants in a very small space. We'll see how they rate flavor-wise as
they ripen up.
Another great container variety this season is our mini spaghetti squash trial.
We have found a variety that grows nicely in a container, setting several pretty
per plant, and appears to be quite early to harvest. If it tastes as good as it
looks, then we will call this variety a winner and offer it in the future.

Cone Flowers in New Colors
This is the 2nd season that we have been evaluating a brand-new Echinacea
(a.k.a. Cone Flower) mix that features all the new colors that have recently
been developed in these beloved summer flowers. This variety is easy to grow and
even begins flowering the first season from seed. Then in their second season,
the plants get very full with lush basal leaves, and burst into bloom in a mix
of lovely colors all summer. The large, bright flowers on their long stems make
a focal point display in the garden and we will definitely offer them in the
future.